We're experiencing Unusual Southern Weather... with pics!

[gbyoung2]

Someone on a bike forum I frequent asked for pictures from the inmates of the unusual southern weather they're experiencing now. I posted:

"8 deg out there right now with a wind chill putting it at 0. We got the snow on Sat/Sun followed by sleep and freezing rain. That white stuff out there has about a 2" crust of ice on top of it. Our road hasn't been touched. Reports say the main roads are "okay" but I haven't been out there to see. While we haven't had any issues in the past, we still have the faucets constantly dripping and the cabinet doors wide open as a precaution.

The car headlights you see across the street is a neighbor trying to get out of his driveway. Now he's trying to get a second vehicle out (on the far right) without much success.



"Back when I was working, I had studded a set of tires for my KLR so I could continue to commute to work on 2 wheels. If I was working today with that same bike and tires, I'd have been gone an hour ago. I still have the bike but sold the tires a long time ago."



Today, with the Ryker, it stays put. I ventured out one day last year into some light snow and got about 20 feet out off the garage apron. It does not like snow and I'm not so sure studded tires would even help in the stuff we presently have on the ground. So, we sit.

 

[Raven]

Nice. Stay warm and dry.

 

[Gwolf]

I am gonna be nice today and not post any pictures of real Southern weather, with the sun shining on the palm trees in my front yard.

 

[Mikey]

On days like that for you, you should just hang inside and wait for tomorrow when the crap is all gone!! You guys don't know how to handle that stuff.

 

[greer]

Open cabinets and water dripping here too, Guy. Hang in there.

Sarah

 

[gbyoung2]

On days like that for you, you should just hang inside and wait for tomorrow when the crap is all gone!! You guys don't know how to handle that stuff.

That ain't happening, at least not anytime soon. With temps dropping into the single digits at night and staying in the high 20's/low 30's during the day, this stuff is gonna be here for a while... especially on the secondary and residential streets. They ran a plow down our road yesterday, but no salt or sand was being scattered at the same time. All it did was "polish" the icy surface, making it a lot more slippery.

Being born and raised in Western PA, I do know how to handle this mess. Given the local circumstances here now, it's best to play it safe and just stay put until the conditions improve. Now 82, the last thing I want to do is hit the deck and **** up something, maiming myself (or worse) and ruin life and the upcoming riding season.

 

[blacklightning]

I actually took my Mustang out of the garage and put my little SUV in there last Saturday. My thoughts were that if an emergency came up, I would rather have something that I could drive actually sitting where I did not have to clear out a whole lot of snow or ice. They were way off on last weekend's forecast. We did have about 1" of sleet and maybe 1/4" of freezing rain. Not enough to stop me from going to the gym on Monday, but the schools are still out. This coming weekend, they are forecasting actual snow. I am hoping for 4" or more so that I can make some snow cream. Lowe's has a 36 hour return policy on generators and the parking lot was full on Monday with people returning them. I will check in the next few days and see if I can get a great deal on an opened box, but new, unit.

 

[gbyoung2]

I actually took my Mustang out of the garage and put my little SUV in there last Saturday. My thoughts were that if an emergency came up, I would rather have something that I could drive actually sitting where I did not have to clear out a whole lot of snow or ice. They were way off on last weekend's forecast. We did have about 1" of sleet and maybe 1/4" of freezing rain. Not enough to stop me from going to the gym on Monday, but the schools are still out. This coming weekend, they are forecasting actual snow. I am hoping for 4" or more so that I can make some snow cream. Lowe's has a 36 hour return policy on generators and the parking lot was full on Monday with people returning them. I will check in the next few days and see if I can get a great deal on an opened box, but new, unit.

I’ve got a rarely driven 4WD capable truck that I may take out today to run to the store a little later; we’ll see. It should to be able to plow through the ice-covered snow from where its parked to make it to the still ice-covered road.

We were prepped for the anticipated power outages due to the forecast’s prediction of sleet and freezing rain with plenty of extra generator gas, but fortunately, that didn’t happen in our immediate area. We’ve had it for over 19 years when outages here were more frequent than they are now. Not a whole house unit due to the layout of our ancient panel box, but with breaker manipulation to separate the 220V stuff and to prevent incoming line back feed (no main breaker), all of the 120V loads are covered. It works well for the typically brief (2 days or less) outages we do have.

They’re calling for real snow here too for the w/e, so we’ll see how things shake out over time.

To all caught up in this mess, stay safe.

 

[Bfromla]

On days like that for you, you should just hang inside and wait for tomorrow when the crap is all gone!! You guys don't know how to handle that stuff.

LOL “You guys” (Y'ALL) & no we may not… neither do you - Southern ice storms are different. How different is up to experiences (individual - each instance is different; every time you step out the door, not just to each person) busted pipes, slippery everything; & what ain’t solid slippery is muddy squishy slosh slippery. Weighing 200+ LB does not matter for grip/traction spikes or not. We do try tho to find ways regardless.

- -

**note the lack of carrot noses** (they went in the soup/gumbo!)

 

[Mikey]

I just got done putting 15 inches of that stuff away!! Time to get the sled warmed up!! And put another blanket on the three wheeled steed.

 

[gbyoung2]

Around here most of the main roads now seem to be clear, the neighborhoods not so much. They’re still covered with ice. Temps yesterday stayed below freezing, and with single digit temps last night, nothing much has changed. They’re saying the high today will be 30 deg., so it will probably be the same thing tomorrow. In the past with conditions like this, the plow trucks were fitted with salt/sand spreaders hung off the back. If they’re still using those, they sure have been stingy with the materials to help get rid of this “stuff.”

My road yesterday @10:00. Temp 22 deg:


Looks exactly the same now.

 

[Bfromla]

Windshield was clear until….. bout hour of Sun, a bump (imagine that)& a stop. Then the cab ice broke loose quite loudly at that nothing damaged thankfully. Had lil more difficult than did with first cleaning & stern reminder to share. Clean ALL ice off TOP of vehicles.